Thursday, May 4, 2017

Got My Korona 5x7 (4x5) Camera Today

Got my Korona 5x7 (4x5) camera in the mail today from the states. It is one old but super cool piece of gear. It is fascinating to see how all the movements worked, some are geared movements! The camera did not cost much money, am very happy with it, it should be a great working tool.

On this camera I have:

Front Standard - I have tilt, swing, shift and rise and fall (geared).
Rear Standard - I have tilt (geared).

Update* I could not figure out what one knob on the camera was for! Just now I found a second knob on the opposite side of the body. When I undid both knobs I found that I also have swing on the rear standard. Go figure!! Those old camera designers sure had a way to get things done. This thing has a ton of movements. I love my Korona 5x7!

Love how all the different movements work and are locked and unlocked. A very different design than what I am used to. Loads of fun to play with. The camera is in reasonable overall condition but could use a good cleaning or two. The bellows seem to be in very good shape, possibly a second bellows for the camera. I doubt that there are any light leaks but will check before I use the camera.

The lens is a 8 1/2 inch (216mm) f 4.5 (faster then any other 210mm I own) Ilex Paragpm Anastigmat with working (except 1 second) No. 4 Acme Synchro shutter. The glass is a bit dusty maybe a tiny bit of haze/fungus but should not be a problem to use to make beautiful photographs.

There is also a 4x5 reducing back and extension rail includes which makes shooting closer subjects possible in both 4x5 and 5x7 formats.

As a bonus it came with 2 wooden 5x7 holder, some extra dark slides, a normal long cable release (stiff need to fix it up) and a very nice very long air bulb release that works well (do not own any of these). There was also some sheets of black fabric that I might be able to turn into a workable dark cloth with some sewing.

I plan on using the camera on the "Oh! Canada!" wet plate project. Probably not the most necessary tool in my arsenal of cameras but a beautiful and historic camera that I plan to use to make wet plate photographs. Some how using a historic camera on this project just seems right! I will get a lensboard and mount my brass (Queen Victoria-Photographer Carl Vandyk) lens to this camera. I am not sure it will cover 5x7 but I can use it with the reducing 4x5 back.My Photographer Carl Vandyk Brass Lens Blogs

Update**There is also a nice vintage (blue velvet cloth interior) lens cap included for the 8 1/2 inch Ilex lens. I could use the cap for the longer wet plate exposures if I do not want to use the T/B setting on the shutter. Using a lens cap as your shutter seems some how more historically correct!

Update*** Another thing of interest is the 5x7 ground glass. They have a a removable plastic type card that cuts the 5x7 image in half (the film sits between the ground glass and the plastic card). It can be slid from side to side, or taken out entirely. I have been thinking of creative uses for this item. What if I did head shot portraits of a subject in the landscape horizontal composition, the first exposure with the card on the left side, the second exposure with the card on the right side. I would have 2 slightly different (movement) versions of the face. This little card sliding option could be a very creative tool, it could help to make some compelling portraits, especially as ambrotypes.

Bangkok (other) Homeless People Donations Given Out

MEE BOON ANIMAL CHARITY DONATIONS GIVEN OUT

Donation Money Spent For The "Families of the Dump". MONEY GIVEN OUT

99914 Baht or $4058.30 CAD

Total donation money spent so far this trip.

"Families of the Dump" Donation Total

$3570.02CAD

TOTAL MONEY DONATED. This money will be given to the families in Mae Sot on my next trip to Thailand, October 2017. It will mostly be handed out in goods from me directly to them, no middlemen. I hope to raise over $1500 CAD.

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THE GOAL

To create photographs that speak to the universality, the commonality and the shared humanity of all peoples, regardless of country, race, culture or language.

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Quote: Robert F. Kennedy

“The purpose of life is to contribute in some way to making things better.”

Quote: Nelson Mandela

"As long as poverty, injustice and gross inequality persist in our world, none of us can truly rest."

Quote: Weegee (Authur Fellig)

"Be original and develop your own style, but don't forget above anything and everything else...be human...think...feel. When you find yourself beginning to feel a bond between yourself and the people you photograph, when you laugh and cry with their laughter and tears, you will know your on the right track....Good luck."

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DONATE TO GERRY YAUM "Lost Innocence" Project

"Lost Innocence" Project, PLEASE HELP

I am trying to raise $10000 CAD for a project I am calling "Lost Innocence" this project will be a series of 100 plus portraits shot in brothels all around Thailand. I hope to raise awareness and educate others through public talks and showings of the work in the West. If the people can see the faces of these trafficked women and girls maybe some solutions to stop this sex slavery, this crime against humanity, can be found. Photography has the power to cause change, please help me tell these girls stories.

All $10000 CAD will go towards the production of the photographs which will take an estimated 6 months to complete. Please help, thank you. Gerry

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"Lost Innocence" Project, PLEASE HELP

I am trying to raise $10000 CAD for a project I am calling "Lost Innocence" this project will be a series of 100 plus portraits shot in brothels all around Thailand. I hope to raise awareness and educate others through public talks and showings of the work in the West. If the people can see the faces of these trafficked women and girls maybe some solutions to stop this sex slavery, this crime against humanity, can be found. Photography has the power to cause change, please help me tell these girls stories.

All $10000 CAD will go towards the production of the photographs which will take an estimated 6 months to complete. Please help, thank you. Gerry

The Three Joys Of Photography

I have been thinking of why I love photography, it comes down to something I have labeled "The Three Joys"1) Creativity The first joy is simply creating the work. Everything about the making of photographs I love. The initial ideas, the writing on the blog, the preparation of equipment, the research into my subjects, figuring out what I want to communicate. The camera tech stuff like composition, lens selection, cameras, figuring exposure, taking the shot etc. The post darkroom work where you swim with your prints bringing them slowly to life, creating something powerful and beautiful. I love it all.

It is so powerful a thing, you have a idea in your mind, there is nothing else, then YOU make it, you create it, it's fricking awesome stuff.

2) The People The second joy is that photography has allowed me a way into so many peoples lives, so many different worlds. I get to meet people of all types, speak to them, eat with them, cry and laugh with them. For a while I get to live their existence to be them if you will.

I get to be a child in a slum in Bangkok or a drug addict in a ghetto in Oakland. I get to be a ladyboy sex worker in Pattaya or a man dying of cancer in Canada. Of course I am not really those people but I get a true flavor for those worlds, those experiences, the good and the bad, the ugly and the beautiful, the joy and the sadness.

With photography I get a chance to live outside of the same same everyday meat and potato lives many of my friends and family live. Because I use a camera and make pictures all the doors to a wonderful life experience are open to me, photography is a window into everything!3) The Photograph The third joy is about the feeling you get when you accomplish your goals, when you see your final print in the developer, fix or hanging in a gallery. There is a special emotion there, a true satisfied happiness, something so uniquely rewarding. In the darkroom sometimes when I see the finished photo for the first time as it lays in the fixer tray I will let out hoops of joy. I will scream and shout. It is quite a spectacle! It's just the sheer high of that moment bursting out, the YES moment. When the photo is right and you see it for the first time it's the best feeling in the world, better than anything I have ever felt, the high of highs!!

"Ain't Photography Grand!"

"Can a photograph stop a war? Can it save a life? Can it lead to understanding, inspire someone to help, provide comfort and open the door to compassion?